Margaret Marean Wheat (1908-1988) was a native Nevadan, born in Fallon. She attended the University of Nevada, where her bent of interest was geology. She served with the U.S. Geological Survey in 1947, was a field worker in archeology for the Nevada State Museum, and undertook projects in water resources for the Desert Research Institute of the University of Nevada. Wheat also had the unique experience of being a fire-lookout in the Toiyabe National Forest. Though she described herself as an "amateur anthropologist," her work with Native Americans earned her the respect of her academic colleagues.